A COUNTRY pub described as a neighbour from Hell has had its bid for late-night opening hours slashed back after neighbours said it would make their lives 'insufferable'.

It is the second blow for the Nags Head in Farndon which was forced to close over Christmas and New Year after failing to apply for a licence under new legislation.

The pub applied under the new drinking laws to sell alcohol until midnight on weekdays and 2am on Friday and Saturday nights. A one-hour drinking-up period would mean the pub could open until 3am.

But Chester City Council members this week limited serving drinks on weekdays to 11.30pm and weekend drinking to 12.30am, followed by a 30-minute drinking-up period. The pub will be allowed to stay open until 2am on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day only.

Pub landlord John Mellor and his wife, Toni, calculated they lost thousands of pounds in trade over the Christmas period because of the licensing blunder.

In a hearing on Tuesday, committee chairman Cllr Terry Ralph described residents' accounts of the pub as 'more like an episode of Neighbours from Hell than a licensing meeting.'

High Street resident Richard Wood claimed his house value has decreased by 30% because of excessive noise from patrons drinking outside during the summer with their car radios blaring.

He claimed he was threatened in front of his five-year-old daughter by a drinker he found urinating in their garden.

He added: 'We are concerned that if they have music until 2am, there will be noise until 3am and the sound of people leaving and taxi horns blaring until 4am.'

In a statement, Carol Bowling said that on some nights there is nowhere in her High Street house where the music cannot be heard.

She added: 'Our lives would be insufferable if the pub were allowed to open late night after night because of the car park on the other side of our bedroom wall. It's impossible to sleep if people park in the car park playing their music.'

Chester City Council Environmental Health Team investigated complaints about the pub in 2005 and recommended against longer opening hours.

As a condition of the licence, Mr Mellor must call a meeting with residents within one month, install CCTV and ensure no pub music is heard from residential boundaries.

He has agreed to remove benches from outside the pub and to prevent drinking and music in outside areas.